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This play by acclaimed British playwright Martin Crimp is just
what Red Stitch Actors Theatre excels at - a tight, subtle and
intimate thriller that irresistibly brings Harold Pinter's plays to
mind. Its setting in the country and theme of attempted but futile
escape from urban problems, along with a spare, rhythmic dialogue,
also reminds us of Chekhov.

Director Denis Moore with meticulous attention to timing, has
produced a series of dialogue from the three actors that resonates
in an almost orchestral sense. Each exchange, simple on the
surface, is rich with unspoken meanings, unanswered questions and
significant gaps, which sustains extraordinary tension.

From the first scene between Corrine (Verity Charlton) and her
doctor husband Richard (Dion Mills), a sense of dread is created.
Richard has brought home a young woman, Rebecca, (Laura Gordon) he
claims to have found unconscious on the road.

A fourth character only known through reported conversations and
the telephone, Morris, is Richard's medical practice partner.

Crimp demonstrates, as he did in Cruel and Tender,
which was staged at MTC earlier this year, an absolute mastery of
dramatic structure. Revelations, some of them devastating and
sinister, come to light almost accidentally, but accumulate to
build up a second version of reality in our imaginations. This is
the secret to the successful thriller. The horror is never
explicit, but sufficient clues are given to create a sense of the
unspoken being where horrors lie. The spoken words become a
delicately maintained pattern whose function is disguise.

Corrine, the wronged wife, may appear a victim, but by the last
scene it is clear she is complicit in what has gone on, trapped in
deceit and guilt.

All are condemned to simulate normality, something that returns
us to the first scene in which such strenuous attempts were being
made to do exactly that.

Mills is as taut as a bow-string throughout, establishing a
character with real desperation fuelling his attempts to stay in
control.